Survey: More than half of Boulder homeless who sought help at center were new to city

Winston Smith, a homeless man originally from Phoenix who has been in Boulder for three years, hangs out near the library and Boulder Creek on Wednesday. More than half the people who sought help at a new resource center for the homeless had lived in Boulder less than six months, according to new data.
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CLIFF GRASSMICK
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Number of times homeless: First time, 38 percent; second time, 19 percent; three times, 15 percent; continuously homeless for at least three years, 4 percent

Receiving some services: 78 percent

Individuals receiving no government services at all: 129

Source: Bridge House Intake Survey

More than half the people who sought help at Bridge House's new resource center for the homeless had lived in Boulder less than six months, according to data released Wednesday by the day shelter and social service agency.

The information came from intake forms filled out by 417 people who sought help at the off-site resource center between October and April and was collected by Bridge House in an effort to better understand who Boulder's homeless population is and what services it needs.

Asked where they lived prior to becoming homeless, 31 percent said they lived in other parts of Colorado and 32 percent said they came from another state. The other 37 percent are from Boulder or Boulder County.

Asked how long they had lived in Boulder, 52 percent said less than six months. Another 38 percent had lived here more than a year.

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Bridge House Executive Director Isabel McDevitt said she knows the information is potentially controversial, as there has been ongoing debate in Boulder about whether offering services for the homeless draws more homeless people to Boulder.

However, McDevitt said she wanted to be transparent about what the intake survey found.

"It's a community question," she said. "Do you care where people lived before they became homeless or do you care what someone is doing to get out of homelessness?"

Some communities have sought to restrict benefits to people who have lived there for a certain amount of time. McDevitt said proving residency can be challenging for many homeless people, and she said the community should think about what goals it is trying to achieve before restricting services.

She also stressed the data is not scientific and is based only on information from those who sought out services at the resource center.

However, that population has significant overlap with the adult, single homeless population that has made use of the day shelter at the Bridge House.

The intake survey did not ask people why they had come to Boulder. In an interview, McDevitt said she believed the same natural beauty, favorable weather and community atmosphere that draw people with housing and opportunities to Boulder also attract homeless people. She said she did not see evidence that generous services were drawing homeless people to Boulder.

The intake survey also found that 38 percent of homeless people who sought services were homeless for the first time. More than 40 percent had a disability, though only 64 people -- roughly 15 percent -- were receiving disability benefits.

Half had sought treatment for a mental illness, 41 percent reported abusing drugs or alcohol and 24 percent had a traumatic brain injury. McDevitt said that last group is a population that falls through the cracks, as some of the symptoms can be similar to mental illness, but there are far fewer resources.

The vast majority of the people who went to the resource center -- 87 percent -- were unemployed. More than half said they were actively looking for work.

The intake survey found that most homeless people were receiving some government benefits, even if it was only food stamps, but 129 people were receiving no assistance at all.

McDevitt said the intake results point to a continued need for addiction recovery services and employment opportunities. Bridge House has created the Ready to Work program to provide job training and experience with market-rate wages and is looking at other social entrepreneur opportunities to expand employment. And its recovery groups are among its most popular services, McDevitt said. However, more needs to be done, she said.

McDevitt said the results also point to lack of coordination between social service providers, as almost everyone who is homeless should be eligible for some assistance and many are not getting all the benefits to which they are entitled.

Bridge House opened the resource center two days a week in the annex of the First Presbyterian Church, near 16th and Walnut streets, last fall. It includes representatives of 12 other social service and government entities, and one of its main goals has been to improve coordination of services so that people who want to get out of homelessness have access to a full range of support.

Bridge House still has its day shelter in the carriage house behind the First Congregational Church. Its lease will be expiring in a few years, and Bridge House is looking for more space.

While the need for a day shelter will always exist, McDevitt said the experience with the resource center suggests that Bridge House doesn't necessarily need all of its services -- like meals and social space -- under one roof. The resource center doesn't even have coffee, yet hundreds of people sought services there.

In fact, McDevitt said, some people who had been homeless for years sought services for the first time because they preferred the quieter, more private environment to the crowds at the carriage house day shelter.

Karen Rahn, Boulder's director of housing and human services, said the results of the intake survey will help the city be more strategic in how it uses its resources. This summer, the city plans to present an assessment of its programs and how those fit into the 10-year plan to end homelessness.

Rahn said the knowledge that many homeless people are from outside the community will be part of the discussion of city priorities. There will always be a need for emergency services so that people don't freeze or starve in the streets, she said. At the same time, the city has financial constraints on the services it provides.

"You can't be all things to all people," she said. "That will be the community discussion, as we decide where to invest our limited resources."

City Councilwoman Lisa Morzel said she was surprised by the numbers. While she was proud of the services offered in Boulder, she doesn't want the city serving as a "mecca for the homeless."

"I would want to drill down into this a little more and find out why people are coming from another state and coming to Colorado," she said. "Did they come here for the social services? Did they come here for opportunities? Did they come here for the weather?"

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